Speaker Mike Johnson is facing an extremely narrow majority in the House and tough vote math as Congress confronts upcoming battles over government funding, aid to Ukraine and Israel and border security.
At the start of the new year, Republicans control just 220 seats while Democrats control 213, which means the House GOP can’t afford to lose more than a few votes to pass party-line priorities. Additionally, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s office has announced that he will work remotely until returning to Washington in February as he recovers from a stem cell transplant.
The House Republican majority will shrink even further by the end of the month with Ohio GOP Rep. Bill Johnson resigning from Congress on January 21 to take a new job as president of Youngstown State University. At that point, Republicans will control 219 seats to 213 for Democrats.
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In a rare event, Congress faces not one but two government shutdown deadlines early in the new year – on January 19 and February 2.
I’m guessing you weren’t alive or old enough to remember when it happened in 1995-6?
While it will hurt the party in charge (R’s in congress), it can also fuck up a bunch of things; Social security, health department, education department, the EPA, FDA and USDA (I’m assuming you eat food here in the US).
It can’t be helpful for federal trials of insurrectionists either.